Wings dispose of Flames

For the sixth time in their last seven games the Calgary Flames failed to score more than a single goal. And for the second straight game, they lost, failing to register a single point.

It’s become fairly predictable.

Miikka Kiprusoff stands on his head yet again for the entire game. Flames manage to squeak one past the opposing tender – in this case it’s NHL wins leader Jimmy Howard. They give up the winning goal in third on a poor defensive breakdown. They give up another. They press late but end up losing the game despite a solid effort.

Unfortunately, it’s become an all to familiar script.

The deciding goal was caused by, as mentioned above, a defensive breakdown.

I think Chris Butler is still looking for his jock strap in the third row of the second deck. Valterri Filppula turned the first year Flames defender inside out and then proceeded to bank the puck off the side of the net, through Kipper’s pads, and onto the stick of Jiri Hudler, who was left uncovered, for the game winning tally.

Ugly doesn’t begin to describe that disastrous series of events.

But you are going to have the odd mistake on the back end – it’s just how hockey goes.

So we come back to the real problem at hand.

Goal scoring.

It has become a serious issue with this team. You can’t consistently win hockey games scoring a single goal.

As coach Brent Sutter said following the game, “the effort was there.”

Sure, the effort has been there for a while, but the goals have to follow and right now they simply aren’t.

The only goal, and one of the bright spots from the game, came on the power play, which has scored in three of the past four games. And the goal scorer was Mike Cammalleri who, coming into tonight, only had a single point in Flames threads since re-joining the Flames a couple weeks ago.

He has to be better and quite simply has to start scoring more goals. That’s why the Flames re-acquired him – in hopes he would re-discover his scoring touch. As of now, he is still kind of playing like one of those “losers” in Montreal.

And that’s the case with pretty much this entire team. No one is scoring. Everybody seems to be gripping the stick a little too tight. Sutter can juggle the lines all he wants in hopes that something will click, but nothing is happening.

There is a shred of good news on this night and it’s that the Oilers and Predators did the Flames huge favours by beating the Avalanche and Wild in regulation respectively, denying the Avs and Wild any more points and keeping the Flames within three points of a playoff spot.

The Flames penalty kill went 3-for-3 on this night making it 11 straight in the past five games. But like I said, defence isn’t really the Flames problem.

They have allowed only 12 goals in the past seven games – that’s less than two a game!!

They should be winning these games.

Kipper can’t do everything. He needs help.

Next up is the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flames won their only other home date versus the Hawks this season, a 5-2 triumph on November 18th. They’ve fallen twice in Chi town however. Let’s hope the homer season series trend continues.